“There is no way to describe hell. Nothing on earth can compare to it. No living person has any real idea of it. No mad man in the wildest flights of insanity ever beheld it’s horror. No man in delirium ever pictured a place so utterly terrible as this. No nightmare racing across a fevered mind ever produced a terror to match that of the mildest hell. Let the most gifted writer exhaust his skill in describing the roaring caverns of unending flame and he would not even come close to the nearest edge of hell. Hell was originally created for the devil and his demons, not for…man. Little wonder there is great joy in heaven over one sinner who repents. He is saved, redeemed, rescued. it makes the hearts of heaven glad.” ~Puritan preacher, unknown.

“Do People Suspect You?” (Excerpted from “Make My Life A Prayer” by Keith Green)

“If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory and in the glory of the Father.” Luke 9:26

There’s a story about a little boy who got saved at church one Sunday. The next day he was scheduled to leave for summer camp, and he was worried about what all the other little kids would say if they knew he had become a Christian.

His mother told him, “Just shine your light, follow the Lord, and everything will be fine.” So off he went to camp.

A week later he returned home, and his mom asked how it went.

“It was great,” the boy replied. “They didn’t suspect a thing.”

That’s the attitude of a lot of Christians–to try and live our lives in such a way that our non-Christian friends or our co-workers or fellow students don’t “suspect a thing” about our faith.

What are we afraid of? Rejection? If they reject us for our faith, than great is our reward in heaven. And when they reject us, our heavenly Father receives us.

Think about it. Whose opinion do you value most, that of your friends–or the God who loved you so much He gave the best in heaven to redeem you?

(Note from AbbasGirlMe)

Been thinking a lot about this as of late. (In fact, my husband and I were talking about this very thing this evening. Apparently we have both been thinking a lot about it and have both come to the same conclusion)….hell, and those who are all around me that are perishing…people that I run into every day! Every person we encounter has need of salvation…every last one of them! Plus, there are people in all of our families, and I am thinking about mine, but you have them too…who are either outright Christ rejectors or who, having gone to church for years, falsely believe that they are somehow saved by that (though there is no fruit to even imply salvation)….now, this is not to call us to judge them as how they rate as Christians, but to judge rightly according to scripture…no fruit, no salvation, it’s as simple as that. And words or bible knowledge is not fruit….a Christ changed life bears the fruit of genuine salvation because it can do nothing else! Those who are in Christ are a new creation….the old is gone, and the new is here. But if the old is just re-packaged in christianese or empty and occasional scripture verses (usually the NICE ones that promise something they want)…there is a problem! And it’s a big one! No new creation lives their old life or continues to seek the same old life things….not one. So that is one way we can rightly judge who needs genuine salvation, and then we are obligated to help them find it. We cannot tiptoe around a soul in peril, can we? Well, can we?

So, anyway,here I go about my daily stuff….and people are perched upon the precipice of eternal damnation and a hell beyond description that will never end….and what do I do? Not much…I think about approaches, or what I should have said, or how messed up that particular person is and don’t know where to start (um…how about the Gospel you dim woman?? THAT’S a good place to start…duh!) when what I should be thinking of is my Lord and His ultimate sacrifice for those around me who He does not want to perish. What I need is a burning love for my Saviour, an eternity focused heart for those around me, and too often I am complacent. I bet you are too…we need HIM to light that fire, otherwise it is either a nice pastime soon replaced by other endeavors, or works based trying in our own strength…and God tells us in Romans that whatever is not of faith is sin….

So I pray that He will light a fire that nothing can quench in my heart and in yours, for the days are short and they are evil, and time is running out. Dear Lord, set us ablaze for YOU, for Your glory, for Your heart for the lost, and let nothing….most of all apathy, complacency, “tolerance”, or compromise get in the way of our giving THE Good News…the BEST News….to all we encounter.

Next time someone asks “How are you?” instead of responding by rote some nonsense-means nothing-rhetorical answer such as “Good, and you?” I’m gonna say “BLESSED!” or “GRATEFUL!” or “REDEEMED!” “What has the Lord done for you today?”….and then step into the open spot that just made and do what I am commanded to do…give the gospel to one person at a time, moving through my (MY? No, God’s) day.

Keith Green said something once, like “Zeal for the Lord is good. Go out and take a chance. If you try to do ten things for the Lord and you make three mistakes, then you’ve at least done seven things right. But if you’re afraid to make those three mistakes, you won’t do anything….take the chance that three or even five or more might be wrong. God will forgive you…make sure what you’re doing is scriptural and if you’ll move out for God, He’ll bless you and you will see your mistakes, learn from them, and pretty soon you’re making fewer mistakes and God is using you to build HIS kingdom….”

Pretty sound advice. DO something….don’t let your pride get in the way…grow through messing up! Oh Lord…give all of us YOUR heart! Let us be bold as lions for the sake of Your kingdom! It’s better to be overzealous for the Lord than lukewarm.

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2 thoughts on “‘Nuther Nugget (or two…)”

Nice post, and well worth reminder each and every one of us where we come from. It was only through God’s grace did he save us. Hell give me the shivers. I can’t help but think of the times I was nearly in a car accident, or something happened where I sat there and thought, “That could have been me…”

One person said it best, “There’s no parole in hell”. Once you’re in, that door slams shut, you’re in forever. Having the wrath of God pouring down on you forever. Having any vestige of humanity burned up in His anger, leaving nothing left but sin. Quite the reality, huh? This is why most people don’t believe in hell. It’s too much. Hell is the utter and total accumulation of God’s anger and wrath for an eternity poured out on one soul. Yeesh…this alone should bring us to tears regarding our salvation.

Extremely well said,my brother. And a huge AMEN. Horrible, awful, inevitable truth and the glory and mercy of God to us who are being saved. He could have delivered His righteous justice to me at any time, and rightly applied it would have been, but He was patient and in the end, He used a very hard reality to deliver the enormous truth of His grace to be and bring me, finally, to our Lord. May He use whatever He deems necessary to bring those we know and those we love soundly into the fold. My prayer is that I will be bold, despite the poo-poo’s of those who like to talk about doing it, but who turn up the nose at those who do it while mislabeling it as somehow being ‘negative’ or ‘harsh’ or implying that somehow zeal and love for the Lord is somehow mean….while they sit on their hands. Faith comes by hearing, and how can they hear if we do not speak? Hell never ends and is beyond description…and there is no reason for anyone to suffer it when Jesus has paid the price for our exemption. May we all have the stench of hell in our nostrils as we go about our lives in Christ amidst the lost and eternally damned in the world. And the glory of heaven ever in our eyes…Jesus Christ.

“Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? – Luke 18:8”

"One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek Him in His temple." Psalm 27:4

"Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. –Matthew 7:15-23, KJV”

“If anyone advocates a different doctrine, and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness, he is conceited and understands nothing; but he has a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words, out of which arise envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions, and constant friction between men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. –1 Timothy 6:3-5”

If I have in any way violated a copyright or not given appropriate credit to an author please forgive me. It was done innocently and in ignorance. Contact me if there is a problem and I will be glad to remove or edit it as desired.